Taizhou city's GDP surges 7.3% in first quarter

Taizhou city in East China's Jiangsu province experienced robust economic growth in the first quarter, with its gross domestic product or GDP hitting 175.25 billion yuan ($24.25 billion), representing a hefty year-on-year increase of 7.3 percent.

That performance topped the annual target by 1.3 percentage points and surpassed the provincial average by 1.1 percentage points.

During the first three months of the year, the general public budget revenue reached 12.6 billion yuan, reflecting a 1.7 percent increase and ranking the city third in growth rates across the province.

Fixed asset investment saw muscular growth of 11 percent, outperforming the provincial average by 6.1 percentage points and ranking Taizhou second in growth rates in the region.

Not to be outdone, total retail sales of consumer goods came in 49.67 billion yuan, expanding by 7.6 percent and surpassing the provincial average by 1.6 percentage points.

In Q1, the total value of imports and exports reached 43.73 billion yuan, soaring 43.8 percent and ranking Taizhou second in Jiangsu province, in a performance said to reflect both stable and quality-driven development.

Finally, in the Q1 period per capita disposable income of residents rose to 15,920 yuan, representing year-on-year growth of 5.6 percent.